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EDWIN M. STANTON 



AN ADDRESS BY ANDREW CARNEGIE 

ON STANTON MEMORIAL' DAY 

AT KENYON COLLEGE 




NEW YORK 

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 

1906 



^1 „ 



Gift 

Author 
(Person) 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 



OTANTON, The Patriot, Kenyon's most illus- 
trious son, came -of good kith and kin, born 
as he was of sturdy Quaker stock. His grand- 
father emigrated from Massachusetts to North 
Carolina before the Revolution in 1774, and he dying 
there his widow emigrated in 1800 to the North- 
western Territory because it was dedicated to free- 
dom. The grandfather wished to manumit his 
slaves before leaving Massachusetts, but this being 
illegal he left them under the protection of a guar- 
dian to see that they were not misused. The Stan- 
tons settled at Mount Pleasant, Ohio. The son 
David, father of our subject, was an able physician 
in Steubenville, a strong abolitionist, laboring even 
in that early day to impress his fellows with the 
wrongfulness of slavery. 

At thirteen, Edwin was fortunately employed in 
a book-store, so that access to books was assured : 
probably one of the most important factors in de- 
termining his future career. One of his school- 
mates, John Harper, whom I knew well in Pittsburg, 



4 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

tells us of young Stanton's fondness for poetry and 
his greed for books. 

Stanton is, so far as I know, the youngest li- 
brary-founder known to history. His schoolfellow, 
Squire Gallagher, reports that before he was thirteen 
he started a circulating library where books were 
regularly exchanged among the boys. The boy was 
father to the man, for leadership, somewhat im- 
perious yet never combative nor abusive, was 
clearly his. 

While engaged in the book-store he devoted his 
evenings under Reverend Mr. Buchanan preparing 
for admission to Kenyon, which received him in his 
seventeenth year (1831). It is melancholy to read 
that he was compelled to leave after his junior year 
for want of means, but poverty has its advantages 
in training men. He returned to his former em- 
ployer who sent him to take charge of a book-store 
in Columbus, Ohio, where he met his future wife. 
Too poor to marry then the young lovers waited 
some years, true to each other. Never was there a 
more devoted husband. He owed much to his wife- 

The two years spent at college were formative 
years. When secession first reared its head and 
Jackson uttered the immortal words, "The Union 
must and shall be preserved," even then to the 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 5 

young man here at college in his teens, this was the 
bugle call. 

In 1825, finding the Union endangered, notwith- 
standing his father's opposition to Jackson and firm 
adherence to Clay and Adams, he sank all other 
issues and ardently supported Jackson, much to the 
regret of many of his best friends. Patriot at 
eighteen, patriot always, the needle not truer to the 
pole than Stanton to the Union. 

He soon qualified for the law, became prosecuting 
attorney, and in his twenty-third year had built up 
a lucrative practice. He removed to Pittsburg in 
1847 and it was there in his early prime that I, as 
telegraph messenger boy, had the pleasure of seeing 
him frequently, proud to get his nod of recognition 
as I sometimes stopped him on the street or entered 
his office to deliver a message. A vigorous, ener- 
getic and concentrated man, always intent upon the 
subject in hand, he had nothing of Lincoln's humor 
and ability to laugh; he was ever deeply serious. 
None stood higher than he in his profession, but it 
is in the realm of statesmanship that his services be- 
came so commanding as to give him place among 
the fathers of the Republic. He remained a Demo- 
crat, yet a Free Soiler, true to the anti-slavery 
traditions of his family. His removal to Wash- 



6 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

ington brought him much business and for some 
years little time was paid to politics. 

The election of Lincoln drew President Buchanan 
into serious negotiations with the Southern leaders 
with whom, as a Democrat, he was in sympathy. He 
soon felt the need of a strong constitutional lawyer 
to steer the ship of state aright, since Attorney-Gen- 
eral Black had been appointed Secretary of State 
to succeed General Cass. His choice fell upon 
Stanton who abandoned a lucrative legal practice 
at the call of duty. Dangers were brewing fast 
around his beloved country and he was needed to 
defend the Union. On the twentieth of December, 
i860, the very day Stanton entered the Cabinet, 
South Carolina declared the Union dissolved. The 
boy patriot of eighteen who had rallied to Jackson's 
call was revealed to an anxious country in his man- 
hood as again the Jacksonian apostle, to teach South 
Carolina and all the other states that followed her, 
and all the world for all time thereafter, that the 
Union "must and shall be preserved." 

There are many remarkable things in Stanton's 
life. I venture to point out what seems to me a 
wonderful coincidence. Lincoln as a youth saw a 
slave auction on the Mississippi, and there and then 
resolved that if he ever got a chance he would " hit 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 7 

the accursed thing hard. " His time came and he 
was privileged to emancipate the last slaves in a 
civilized land. So Stanton, changing his political 
party while in his teens at the call of the Union, in 
manhood changes the policy of his party and ban- 
ishes disunion forever. For this he is destined to 
live in American history as one whose services to the 
Republic in her darkest hour rank in value with 
those of the foremost early fathers : Franklin, Ham- 
ilton, Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, and Lincoln. No 
lower place can be assigned him than in that circle. 
Washington must ever stand alone — father among 
these worthy sons. 

There are few more deeply interesting episodes 
in our history than that of Judge Black's conversion 
to Stanton's views. It will be remembered that 
as attorney-general, Nov. 20th, i860, he gave the 
President his opinion that he could not constitu- 
tionally use military force for any purpose whatever 
within the limits of a state where there were no 
United States judges, marshals, or other civil offi- 
cers, and there were none in South Carolina, the 
Federal officials having resigned. This led to pro- 
longed negotiations between the agents of the 
Southern states and the President and his Cabinet, 
all tending to a peaceful dissolution of the Union. 



8 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

General Cass, Secretary of State, loyal to the 
Union, resigned because the President refused to 
reinforce the Southern forts. Meanwhile, Secretary 
of State Black, and Stanton, who was then only a 
private citizen, had been in deep and earnest con- 
sultation, and Black took Cass's place only on con- 
dition that Stanton be made his successor. The 
reason was soon clear. Black had changed his 
views as he explained seven years after: he and 
Stanton had reached perfect accord on all questions, 
whether of law or policy. It is readily seen how 
this concord was attained. The true Jacksoniam 
ever holding as the prime duty the preservation of 
the Union as an indissoluble union of indissoluble 
states, had shown his elder brother that he was 
wrong and inspired him with the intense loyalty he 
himself possessed. Black says early in December 
he " notified the President of his change of view and 
handed him a memorandum for his private use. " 
Here is an extract: "The Union is necessarily per- 
petual. No state can lawfully withdraw or be ex- 
pelled from it. The Federal Constitution is as 
much a part of the constitution of every state as if 
it had been textually inserted therein." This is 
Stantonese. Black had seen a great light between 
November and December. 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 9 

It would have been well had he consulted Stanton 
before giving his opinion of the previous month 
which brought Buchanan to the verge of treason. 
Fortunately for our country, Black remained at 
Stanton's side in the crisis and rendered great ser- 
vice. He deserves to have his mistake forgiven and 
forgotten. It was one which a lifelong Democrat 
might be pardoned for making. I knew more than 
one excellent public -spirited man in the circle of my 
friends who could not reconcile himself to the use of 
force against his fellows of the South, with whom his 
personal and political relations had been cordial. 
The "depart in peace" policy had many sympa- 
thetic adherents among such men. 

Major Anderson's removal from Fort Moultrie to 
Fort Sumter created a contest which raged for three 
days in the Cabinet. Was the demand of South 
Carolina, that he be ordered back to Moultrie, to be 
granted or denied ? Secretary of War Floyd claimed 
that the President had committed himself by a 
promise that the status quo should not be disturbed, 
which Anderson's movement certainly did. He 
prepared a letter to which Black, Stanton, and Holt 
objected. On the following Sunday, Black in- 
formed the President that if the letter was delivered 
he would resign. Stanton had never wavered in his 



io STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

position. The moment the demand that Fort 
Sumter be evacuated was made, he told the Cabinet 
that " its surrender by the Government would be a 
crime equal to that of Arnold, and that all who par- 
ticipated in the act should be hung like Andre\ " 
Judge Holt, a member of the Cabinet, speaking from 
his own knowledge, tells us that Stanton also de- 
clared in the face of the President that a president 
who signed such an order would be guilty of treason. 
The President raised his hand deprecatingly, saying' 
" Not so bad as that, my friend, not so bad as 
that. " 

Judge Holt's tribute to Stanton reveals what the 
Republic owes to its defender. He says, " His 
loyalty to the Union cause was a passion. He 
could not open his lips on the subject without giving 
utterance to the strongest expressions. He never 
changed from first to last in his devotion to his 
country nor in the resolute manner in which he as- 
serted and upheld his convictions." The decision 
of the Cabinet, upon which the sovereignty of the 
Republic over all its ports depended, hung for sev- 
eral days in the balance. The President finally 
sided with the loyalists. Stanton first reclaimed 
Judge Black, the Secretary of State, before entering 
the Cabinet, and after he did enter, the two men, 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT n 

with Judge Holt, Secretary of War, prevailed upon 
the President to change his policy. History re- 
cords in unmistakable terms that the chief an- 
tagonist of the policy of submission to the dis- 
unionists, and inspirer in the Cabinet of loyalty to 
the Union as against secession, was the patriot, 
Stanton. 

His policy having been agreed to, instead of 
resting content he began to urge the President to 
prepare for the worst, holding that "preparation 
could do no possible harm in any event, and, in the 
event of that which seems to be most likely, it 
is the country's only chance of salvation. " 

There was soon thrust upon him the duty of con- 
ferring with the leaders of the Republican party and 
preparing for a peaceful inauguration of the newly 
elected President, Lincoln. This he no more hes- 
itated to perform than other patriotic duties re- 
quired for the preservation of his country. 

Interviews took place with Seward, Sumner, and 
other leaders. There was knowledge of treasonable 
designs against Lincoln's inauguration and of an 
attempt to induce Maryland to secede and claim the 
reversion of the District of Columbia. So pressing 
was the danger that the President was persuaded to 
order troops to Washington. 



12 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

The effect of the arrival of United States soldiers 
under the national flag was startling. Here was 
notice at last, after months of doubt and hesitation, 
that the Republic was not to be destroyed without 
a struggle. All hope of peaceful settlement van- 
ished. Even Mr. Stanton never rendered his 
country a greater service than that performed in 
January, 1861. He was denounced as no better 
than an abolitionist by Southern Democrats who 
favored the right of secession, and also by those 
who did not go so far but who refused to sustain the 
Government under Republican control. To both he 
was equally odious, because he stood for maintain- 
ing the Government under all circumstances. He 
entered the Buchanan Cabinet as a Democrat in 
i860 and left it a Democrat, but a Democrat who 
subordinated every issue to the maintenance of 
law and the preservation of the Union. Upon 
this platform he advocated obedience to the 
Fugitive Slave Law and recognition of slavery, 
intensely opposed as he personally was to that 
system. Here he stood with Lincoln and the 
large party who preferred to keep the constitu- 
tional compact with the South rather than 
compel the abolition of slavery at the risk of 
civil war. 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 13 

Seven states seceded and Jefferson Davis was 
elected president of the Confederate states one 
month previous to Lincoln's accession. Like his 
predecessor, Lincoln's one desire was peace, and 
many plans for satisfying the South received his 
earnest consideration. Soon did he. realize that 
the men who had elected him were of different 
temper, some preferring disunion to the continu- 
ance of slavery, some for the Union with or without 
slavery as Lincoln himself was. A large portion 
of the Northern people, not Republicans, were 
disposed to blame the Anti-Slavery people for 
their attack upon property recognized by the Con- 
stitution. Well did Lincoln know that the oppo- 
sition in the North to the use of force against the 
South under existing conditions would be serious 
and powerful; hence his earnest efforts to avert 
hostilities. He went so far as to favor the evacua- 
tion of Fort Sumter, and steps were taken to 
prepare the public for the great sacrifice. The 
Cabinet approved, this by five to two. The rumor 
of this action, started to test public opinion, 
aroused the North. It was overwhelmingly con- 
demned and in such terms as made the Presi- 
dent and Cabinet pause. Lincoln never gave the 
order. 



i 4 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

As was to be expected, Stanton, now a private 
citizen, was inflexibly opposed to the evacuation of 
Sumter. His letters at this time express grave 
doubts of the capacity of the President and his 
Cabinet to preserve the Union, but still he believed 
that the Union was stronger than all its foes. 

While the Union was thus imperilled and men in 
all the various divisions into which public opinion 
had drifted knew not what a day was to bring forth 
nor what the end was to be, an event occurred which 
instantly crystallized the divided North into one 
solid body. Never can I forget the April morning 
when there flashed through the land, " Fort Sumter 
fired upon by the rebels. " 

I was then superintendent of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad at Pittsburg and went to my office every 
morning on a train crowded with passengers. That 
morning the cars resembled a disturbed bee-hive. 
Men could not sit still nor control themselves. One 
of the leading Democrats who had the previous 
evening assured me that the people would never 
approve the use of force against their Southern 
brethren, nor would he, came forward, greatly 
excited, and I am sorry to say some of his words were 
unquotable. "What's wrong with you?" I asked. 
"Didn't I tell you last night what the Secessionists 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 15 

intended?" ""But they have fired on the flag — 
fired on our flag. " In less than a week I saw my 
friend one morning drilling to be ready as captain 
of a company to revenge that unpardonable crime. 
So with others of like views the night before. Stan- 
ton was right: the Union was stronger than all its 
foes. Ex-President Buchanan wrote General Dix: 

''The present administration had no alternative 
but to accept the war initiated by South Carolina 
or the Southern Confederacy. The North will sus- 
tain the administration almost to a man ; and it 
ought to be sustained at all hazards. " 

May 6th, to Stanton, he wrote: 

" The first gun fired by Beauregard aroused the 
indignant spirit of the North as nothing else could 
have done, and made us a unanimous people. I 
had repeatedly warned them that this would be the 
result." 

Buchanan proved to be a loyal man. Strong as 
the Union then proved to be, it is infinitely stronger 
to-day, not only in the North, but north, south, 
east, and west, wherever Old Glory floats. The 
forces in our country to-day are ^irflrfy^u^Cfl 1 

Seventy-five thousand volunteers were imme- 
diately called for by the President to fight for the 
Union. After the repulse at Bull Run, a great army 



1 6 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

was concentrated around Washington under General 
McClellan, of whom Stanton expected great things, 
but as month after month passed and no forward 
movement was made, the nation became impatient 
and clamored for action. None came. 

I can speak from personal experience of the 
condition of affairs in and around Washington 
immediately after Lincoln's call for volunteers, 
having escorted General Butler and his regiments 
from Annapolis to Washington after we had re- 
paired the railroad torn up by the Confederates. 
I saw General Scott, then in command, assisted 
morning and evening into and out of his brougham 
and led by two orderlies across the pavement to 
and from his office. Upon the old, infirm man, 
unable to walk, was thrown the task of organizing 
and directing the Army. The heads of other 
departments under him were mostly superannuated. 
There was little or none of any of the requisites 
for war. Reorganization of every branch was 
essential. General Cameron, Secretary of War, 
labored hard and did well under the circumstances, 
and deserved commendation, but he could not work 
miracles. Time was needed. 

On the 13th of January, 1862, without consulta- 
tion with Mr. Stanton, Lincoln nominated him as 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 17 

Secretary of War, and a few days later he was 
again a member of the Cabinet. Neither party nor 
personal considerations dictated his appointment. 
The President and Cabinet, disappointed and weary 
with the paralysis which had stricken the great 
army, and alarmed at the intense clamor of an 
incensed people, had to take action to prevent 
disaster. Earnestly searching for the best man to 
meet the emergency and to bring order out of chaos, 
there could be but one selection, the man who had 
restored President Buchanan to the Union cause, 
had convinced Secretary of State Judge Black that 
he was wrong in his views of constitutional law, 
had proclaimed failure to reinforce Fort Sumter 
treasonable, and told the President that if he sur- 
rendered the fort he would be a traitor and de- 
served to be hanged — that was the man the situa- 
tion required. The effect of Stanton's appoint- 
ment upon the country was magical as the people 
became conversant with the record of the new 
Secretary in Buchanan's Cabinet. 

Much was said of Stanton's rude treatment of 
those having business with him, but, to judge 
whether his impetuosity was excusable, one has to 
know those who complained and what they de- 
manded. He' was overwhelmed with important 



18 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

affairs and had neither time nor disposition to 
waste time upon those who had personal ends to 
advance. I witnessed his reception of the commit- 
tee from New York City who, fearing consequences, 
visited Washington to urge a postponement of the 
draft. That was delightfully short. No time lost. 
If there was to be rebellion in New York, the sooner 
the- Go vernment met and crushed it the better. "No 
postponement" was Stanton's reply. We do not 
find Lincoln and members of the Cabinet or able 
members of the House or Senate or high military 
officers complaining of his manner. He had time 
and patience for them night or day. 

His inherent kindness may be judged by his first 
act. It was to send a commission to Richmond to 
look after prisoners at the expense of the Govern- 
ment. Ten days later came his order that prisoners 
of war should receive their usual pay. 

Lincoln was reported as saying to a friend who 
congratulated him upon Stanton's appointment — 
" Yes, the Army will move now, even if it move to 
the devil." Move it did, but not for some time. 
Month after month all was quiet on the Potomac. 
Even Washington was threatened and Pennsyl- 
vania invaded. The issue seemed to tremble in the 
balance. The nation was heart sick,but great news 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 19 

came at last to encourage it. A brigadier-general 
named Grant upon his own initiative and much to 
the surprise of his commanding general, had cap- 
tured Fort Henry and later Fort Donelson, with 
fifteen thousand prisoners, compelling the evacua- 
tion of Nashville. " I propose to move imme- 
diately upon your works " was the secret of victory. 
Here was "an auger that could bore," which Lin- 
coln had determined to find. 

In estimating Stanton as War Minister, many 
have been justly lavish in their praise of his un- 
flagging energy, tenacity, and unconquerable will in 
the performance of the ordinary duties of a war 
minister, characteristic of an exceedingly able man, 
but a just estimate of him can only be made when 
the work he did, lying beyond the range of the 
immediate duties of a war minister, is known. 

In the field of constitutional law, for instance, we 
see that Stanton converted both President and 
Secretary of State, and he was described as " Lin- 
coln's right-hand man" in addition to being War 
Minister. There were emergencies when not only 
ability, but genius, was shown. Let us recall three 
of these: 

The Western rivers were patrolled by Confed- 
erate steamboats, improvised ships of war. The 



2o STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

Navy Department had no plans for destroying 
these and opening the rivers to the National forces. 
Stanton knew Charles Ellet, builder of the Wheeling, 
Fairmount, and other bridges, an engineer of great 
ability, who had suggested rams for naval warfare. 
He wrote him, March, 1862,- 

" If this Department had several swift, strong 
boats on the Western rivers, commanded by ener- 
getic fighting men, I could clear the rebels out of 
those waters and recover the Mississippi to the 
use of commerce and our armies. The Navy seems 
to be helpless and I am compelled to execute a plan 
of my own to avert the increasing dangers there. 
Can you not secretly fit out a fleet of swift boats at 
several points on the Ohio and descend on the rebels 
unexpectedly and destroy them? Please call at my 
office at once. " 

Ellet was called to Washington for conference on 
March 26th, and altho Russia and our own Navy 
Department had long before rejected Ellet's idea of 
rams, Stanton adopted them, and sent Ellet to Pitts- 
burg, Cincinnati, and New Albany to convert ordi- 
nary river steamboats into powerful rams. This was 
promptly done and the rams approached Memphis 
June 5th, destroyed the enemy and captured the 
city next day. Ellet was the only National officer 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 21 

lost. Wounded on deck, Nelson-like, in the hour of 
his greatest triumph, he can never be forgotten. 
Only ten weeks elapsed between the resolve to 
improvise rams, and victory. 

The second instance: The Confederates early 
took possession of Norfolk and the Navy Yard. 
Secretary Stanton asked the Navy Department if 
the fleet could not attack Norfolk, but was 
met with the suggestion that the Army should 
assault it by land. The Merrimac appeared and 
sunk the Frigates Congress and Cumberland and 
alarmed the seaboard cities. That night Stanton 
called a committee together in New York by tele- 
graph to devise plans for sinking the terror. He 
provisioned Fortress Monroe for six months and 
advised the Navy Department he could not embark 
the Army to attack Norfolk until the Navy bottled 
up or sank the Merrimac. On the following day he 
wired Mr. Vanderbilt to name a price for sinking 
her. The Commodore promptly offered for the 
purpose the swift and powerful Steamship Van- 
derbilt as a gift to the Government. She was 
accepted and immediately sent to Fortress Monroe 
to lie in wait. These arrangements made, Stanton 
induced the President to accompany him to Fortress 
Monroe that he might have the Commander-in- 



22 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

Chief at his side to issue such orders as he might 
think necessary to both Army and Navy. There 
was to be no failure of cooperation. The attack 
was a splendid success. The Merrimac retreated 
and destroyed herself. The Navy Yard, Norfolk, 
and Portsmouth were captured and the James 
River blockaded, all according to Stanton's plans 
and under his immediate direction. 

The third instance : There came one serious dis- 
aster in the West — Rosecrans's defeat at Chicka- 
mauga, imperilling Chattanooga, the key to the 
region from which Rosecrans thought he might have 
to retreat. Stanton, as usual, had the solution — 
reinforce him from the Army of the Potomac. Upon 
receipt of Rosecrans's despatch he sent for Lincoln 
who was sleeping at the Soldiers' Home. Startled 
by the summons, the President mounted his horse 
and rode to Washington in the moonlight to preside 
over the Cabinet. Hallock opposed the idea, saying 
it would take forty days to make the transfer, but 
Stanton had already consulted the railroad and 
telegraph authorities, Eckert and McCallum, and had 
them present to assure the Cabinet that seven days 
would suffice. Stanton was given his way. 

My superior officer and life-long friend, Colonel 
Thomas A. Scott, upon whom Stanton greatly relied, 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 23 

was called upon. Scott traveled the route. Stan- 
ton never left his office for three days and nights 
during the movement. September 26th the troops 
started and twenty-three thousand troops were 
with Rosecrans in less than seven days. To Colonel 
Scott, then at Louisville, Stanton telegraphed, 
"Your work is most brilliant. A thousand thanks. 
It is a great achievement." So my superior in 
Government service at Washington and kindest 
friend of early days, Thomas A. Scott, lives 
in history as one who " did the state some 
service. ' ' 

This was not all. Rosecrans 's advices were still 
most discouraging and indicated retreat. Stanton 
determined to visit the field and judge for himself. 
He wired General Grant to meet him and then 
immediately gave him full command of the Division 
of the Mississippi, not a moment too soon for it was 
necessary to wire Rosecrans that he was displaced 
by General Thomas, the latter receiving orders to 
hold his position at all hazards. The result was the 
defeat of the Confederates and the capture of Chat- 
tanooga. Stanton returned to Washington, but not 
until he had seen Rosecrans displaced and Thomas 
in command of the Army of the Cumberland, with 
Grant over all in the West. 



24 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

The work of no mere secretary of war achieved 
these three triumphs. Stanton appears as a com- 
bination of secretary of war, admiral of the fleet, 
and commanding general, the President of the 
United States a zealous co-operator. We note in 
these emergencies intuitive apprehension of the vi- 
tal points : fertility of resource, adaptation of means 
to ends, and, over all, sublime confidence in himself 
and certainty of success — all qualities that pertain 
to genius. It may be doubted if ever a man dis- 
played genius of a higher order in affairs of similar 
character. Certainly no secretary of war ever 
approached him. 

It was not long before Grant was called to 
Washington by Secretary Stanton and placed at 
the head of the Army. He dined with me at Pitts- 
burg when he passed westward, and told me he 
was to become lieutenant-general with head- 
quarters at Washington. General Thomas being 
then the popular idol I said to him, " I suppose 
you will place Thomas in command of the 
West." "No," he said, "Sherman" (who had been 
little heard of) "is the man for chief command. 
Thomas would be the firs# man to say so. " 
Sherman did, indeed, prove 'that Grant knew his 
man. 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 25 

Great events soon followed, culminating in the 
surrender of the Confederates and the assassination 
of Lincoln in the hour of victory ; Stanton and Sew- 
ard, like Lincoln, being also marked for death on the 
conspirators' list. 

Stanton's report of December, 1865, opens as 
follows : 

" The military appropriations by the last Con- 
gress amounted to the sum of $516,240,131.70. 
The military estimates for the next fiscal year, 
after careful revision, amount to $33,814,461.83." 

The Army was reduced to fifty thousand men. 
The million of soldiers who had left peaceful pur- 
suits to defend their country returned to their homes 
and their former pursuits without the slightest dis- 
turbance. "The future historian is to record," 
says Dana, " that this unprecedented transfor- 
mation in which so many anxious patriots, soldiers, 
and statesmen alike, labored together, was pre- 
eminently achieved by the heroic genius of Edwin 
M. Stanton." So far all was peaceful and satis- 
factory in the North, but how the Southern states, 
recently in rebellion, were to be reconstructed, be- 
came the problem. Two days before his death, 
Lincoln had said, "We all agree that the seceded 
states are out of their proper practical relation to 



26 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

the Union and that the sole subject of the Govern- 
ment, civil and military, is again to get them into 
that proper practical relation. " 

The Southern people held that the old state 
legislatures returned with peace. 

Stanton's connection with the subject began be- 
fore Lincoln's death. April 14th, at a Cabinet 
meeting he submitted, at Mr. Lincoln's request, a 
mode which he had prepared whereby the states 
"should be organized without any necessity what- 
ever for the intervention of rebel organizations or 
rebel aid." Lincoln's last telegram, April nth, 
following Stanton's policy, was to General Weitzel, 
in command at Richmond, ordering that "those 
who had acted as the Legislature of Virginia in 
support of the rebellion be not allowed to assemble 
even in their individual capacity." President 
Johnson followed this policy for some time and all 
went well, but on the 14th of August in a telegram 
to the governor of Mississippi he changed his posi- 
tion. When Congress met it appointed a commit- 
tee to consider whether any of the seceding states 
were entitled to be represented in either house and 
provided that, until its report should be acted upon 
by Congress, no member should be received from such 
states. The fear of the Unionists was that, should 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 27 

the entire South send disloyal representatives, these, 
with a few Democratic sympathizers from the North, 
might control Congress and pass such measures as 
would nullify the Emancipation Proclamation, the 
poisonous root of secession. Slavery, not yet 
quite eradicated, was ready to germinate again. 
The President, a Southern man, brought face to face 
with the question of granting all the rights of citi- 
zenship to the negro, recoiled, and favored leaving 
this question to the states. Stanton stood firmly 
for the right of House and Senate to judge of the 
election returns and qualifications of their own 
members. An election for Congress intervened. 
President Johnson made inflammatory speeches in 
the campaign, calling Congress "a body which 
assumes to be the Congress of the United States, 
when it is a congress of only a part of the United 
States, " the people responded by sending increased 
loyal majorities to both houses. The prominent 
part played by Stanton singled him out as the ob- 
ject of attack by the President and those of the 
Cabinet who sided with him. To protect him from 
dismissal, Congress passed the Tenure of Office bill, 
which also protected General Grant. Neither 
could be dismissed without the previous consent of 
the Senate. On the 19th of July Congress passed 



28 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

the Reconstruction Act, favored by Stanton, over 
the President's veto. Grant and Stanton, in cordial 
alliance, put it into force and saved the fruits of 
victory so seriously imperilled. The Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution was finally made 
effective. 

Soon after the adjournment of Congress, the 
President determined to displace Stanton and con- 
sulted Grant upon the subject. Grant expressed 
strong disapproval and, after pointing out that the 
approval of the Senate was necessary, ended with 
these words : 

"In conclusion, allow me to say, as a friend, desir- 
ing peace and quiet, the welfare of the whole country 
North and South, that it is, in my opinion, more than 
the loyal people of this country ( I mean those who 
supported the Government during the great rebel- 
lion) will quietly submit to, to see the very man of all 
others in whom they have expressed confidence 
removed. " 

The President then requested Stanton's resigna- 
tion, which he declined to give before the next 
meeting of Congress. 

In this he had the cordial support of the loyal 
people. At a later date, the President suspended 
him and appointed General Grant Secretary of War 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 29 

ad interim. In acknowledging to Stanton his ac- 
ceptance, the General wrote : 

" In notifying you of my acceptance, I cannot let 
the opportunity pass without expressing to you my 
appreciation of the zeal, patriotism, firmness, and 
ability with which you have ever discharged the 
duties of Secretary of War. " 

Stanton knew that Grant had withstood the 
President resolutely, was true to the Union, and 
could be trusted, and hence had less difficulty in sub- 
mitting under protest. 

Upon the meeting of Congress, Stanton was 
promptly reinstated. General Grant immediately 
notified the President he was no longer Secretary of 
War, since the Senate had reinstated Stanton. 
This incensed the President, who had expected 
Grant to remain and dispute the Senate's action. 
That Stanton was surprised that Grant ever accepted 
the appointment is clear, but Grant's letter to the 
President, February 3rd, explains all: 

" From our conversations and my written protest of 
August 1, 1867, against the removal of Mr. Stanton, 
you must have known that my greatest objection to 
his removal or suspension was the fear that someone 
would be appointed in his stead who would, by op- 
position to the laws relating to the restoration of 



30 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

the Southern states to their proper relations to the 
Government, embarrass the army in the performance 
of duties especially imposed upon it by these laws; 
and it was to prevent such an appointm'ent that I 
accepted the office of Secretary of War ad interim, 
and not for the purpose of enabling you to get rid of 
Mr. Stanton by my withholding it from him in 
opposition to law, or, not doing so myself, surrender- 
ing it to someone who would, as the statements and 
assumptions in your communications plainly in- 
dicate was sought." 

"And now, Mr. President, when my honor as a 
soldier and integrity as a man have been so vio- 
lently assailed, pardon me for saying that I can but 
regard this whole matter, from the beginning to the 
end, as an attempt to involve me in the resistance 
of law, for which you hesitated to assume the respon- 
sibility in orders, and thus to destroy my character 
before the country. I am in a measure confirmed 
in this conclusion by your recent orders directing 
me to disobey orders from the Secretary of War — 
my superior and your subordinate — without having 
countermanded his authority to issue the orders I 
am to disobey. " 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 31 

Thus Grant stood immovable, true to the loyal 
forces as against the President. The latter now 
attempted to get General Sherman to accept, 
but he resolutely declined. As a last resort, 
General Thomas was appointed. This led to his 
impeachment by the House and trial by the 
Senate. Upon the failure of the proceedings, 
through the lack of one vote only, although two- 
thirds majority was required, Secretary Stanton 
resigned and retired to private life, to be soon 
afterwards appointed justice of the Supreme Court, 
by President Grant. Resolutions of thanks were 
passed by both houses and many were the trib- 
utes offered to this remarkable man who had 
given six years of his life and undermined his 
health in his country's service. Before entering 
the Cabinet, he had amassed considerable means 
by his profession, but this was exhausted. Be- 
yond his modest residence in Washington, he 
left nothing. Dispensing hundreds of millions 
yearly, he lived without ostentation, and he died 
poor. 

Offers of gifts and private subscriptions by those 
who knew his wants were uniformly rejected. On 
the morning of the 24th of December, 1869, he 
breathed his last. 



32 STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

He had been foremost in urging the abolition of 
slavery, the root of secession, and Lincoln's right- 
hand man in preserving our blessed Union, which se- 
cures for this continent an indissoluble government 
so overwhelmingly powerful as to be immune from 
attack and able to enforce internal peace, in con- 
trast to Europe with its huge armies, organized not 
against foreign foes but for protection against each 
other. 

Well may we imagine the patriot murmuring as 
his spirit fled, " I thank thee, God, that thou hast 
permitted thy servant to see slavery abolished and 
the Union preserved; let him now depart in peace. " 

The tributes paid to his memory were many, and 
his transcendent services were fully extolled, but, of 
all that has been said or written about him, nothing 
gives posterity such clear, full, and truthful evidence 
of the man's seemingly superhuman power of in- 
fusing into a whole people the vibrations of his own 
impassioned soul, as is supplied by an editorial 
written by one by no means predisposed in his favor, 
Horace Greeley. The following editorial appeared 
in the Tribune, Feb. 18th: 

"While every honest heart rises in gratitude to 
God for the victories which afford so glorious a 
guaranty of the national salvation, let it not be for- 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT " 33 

gotten that it is to Edwin M. Stanton, more than to 
any other individual, that these auspicious events 
are now due. Our generals in the field have done 
their duty with energy and courage; our officers, 
and with them the noble democracy of the ranks, 
have proved themselves worthy sons of the Repub- 
lic : but it is by the impassioned soul, the sleepless 
will, and the great practical talents of the Secretary 
of War, that the vast power of the United States 
has now been hurled upon their treacherous and 
perjured enemies to crush them to powder. Let no 
man imagine that we exalt this great statesman 
above his deserts, or that we would detract an iota 
from that share of glory which in this momentous 
crisis belongs to every faithful participator in the 
events of the war. But we cannot overlook the fact 
that, whereas the other day all was doubt, distrust, 
and uncertainty; the nation despairing almost of 
its restoration to life; Congress the scene of bitter 
imputations and unsatisfactory apologies ; the army 
sluggish, discontented, and decaying, and the abyss 
of ruin and disgrace yawning to swallow us : now all 
is inspiration, movement, victory, and confidence. 
We seem to have passed into another state of ex- 
istence, to live with distinct purposes, and to feel 
the certainty of their realization. In one word, 

LOFC. 



34 * STANTON, THE PATRIOT 

the nation is saved; and while with ungrudging 
hands we heap garlands upon all defenders, let a 
special tribute of affectionate admiration be paid 
to the minister who organized the victory which 
they have won." 

Nothing is exaggerated here, unduly laudatory 
as it may seem. Many like myself can vouch from 
personal knowledge for all that is said, having 
known the man and his work and the conditions. 
Stanton deprecated its publication in 1862, and in a 
letter to the Tribune disclaimed the credit given him, 
but standing here to-day when justice can be done 
to the real hero without arousing jealousy in others, 
I solemnly pronounce every word of Horace Gree- 
ley's tribute richly deserved. Our pantheon is re- 
served for the fathers of the Republic. To these 
has recently been added Lincoln, who has taken his 
place among the gods. Two other names from our 
generation are yet to enter, their services swelling 
as events recede: Stanton and Grant. 

Thus passed away Kenyon's most illustrious 
alumnus, but in the higher sense he is still with us, 
and distant is the day when the graduates of Kenyon 
shall find that his spirit no longer rules them from 
his urn. Such an example as he left is one of the 
most precious legacies that can be bequeathed to 



STANTON, THE PATRIOT 35 

posterity, a career spent, not in pursuit of miserable 
aims, which end with self, but in high service for 
others. In these days of materialism, where so 
many are devoted to the pursuit of wealth as an end, 
some pursuing it by underhand and dishonorable 
means, and in political life, where personal advance- 
ment is so often the aim, the value of a Stanton, in 
total abnegation of self, placing before him as his 
aim in life, service to his country, regardless of 
popularity, fame or wealth, cannot be overesti- 
mated. 

It is for the students of Kenyon and for all men, 
.year after year, generation after generation, century 
after century, to emulate his virtues, follow his ex- 
ample, and revere his memory. 



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